Redecorating
by StormWolf10
Summary: Contains spoilers for series finale. "You know, Ellie," Alec said quietly, "you can buy as many tins of colourful paint as you can afford, paint your house all colours of the rainbow. But that's not going to brighten up your heart." "Well, I'll give it a bloody good try," Ellie responded bitterly.


**A/N: *Shuffles in* Hi… So yeah, second Broadchurch fic. Because there's not enough Broadchurch fics on here. Contains spoilers for the series finale. Read and review.**

Ellie tried not to turn her nose up as she stepped inside the house. It had been difficult, finding somewhere else to live, not just because it was a horrible reminder of how her seemingly-perfect family had been torn apart, but also because the houses they could afford were in such a state. She'd tried to look past the horrid '60's carpets and damp-riddled walls and bubbling wallpaper, and had succeeded somewhat, purchasing a small, three bedroom house on the outskirts of Broadchurch. It hadn't been what she wanted, hadn't been what she'd told Alec she was going to do, but wrenching the boys away from Broadchurch now would just make everything worse. They needed to recover, they all did, had to get used to Joe not being there. Give Tom time to grieve for his lost friend, give Fred time to settle and not cry for his Daddy at nights. Pulling them away from Broadchurch would make everything that much harder, they'd have to make new friends, Tom would have to join a new Scout club if he still wanted to go, Ellie herself would have to transfer to another Police department… It was too much too soon. And so, Ellie had decided to stay in Broadchurch, convinced herself that a change of house was what they needed. It had taken her ages to choose a location that was right for them, that was still close enough they could see their friends and keep the same jobs and school and childcare provider, but didn't involve driving down roads near where they'd used to live, near where her husband had lied to her every night, had comforted her children and assured them the killer would be caught. The killer under their roof. She shook her head, dislodging the thought from her head, adjusted Fred on her hip and turned to look at Tom, who was still stood in the doorway, nose crinkled as he took everything in.

"Well?" Ellie asked, voice full of false cheer. "What do you think?"

Tom looked at his Mum, unable to hide his disgust at the state of the house.

"We're gonna live _here_?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Ellie responded, a big fake grin on her face that Tom saw through immediately. "Oh come on, it'll be great! Just needs a lick of paint!"

Still sceptical, Tom gingerly prodded at a patch of bubbling wallpaper on the wall next to him.

**~StormWolf10~**

The estate agent had insisted the house was habitable, but three days later, Ellie wasn't so sure. All the walls had been stripped of their wallpaper- and some, inadvertently, stripped of plaster as well-, leaving the house a cold-feeling, grey-ish brown. Not very homely at all. Even though their furniture had been moved in, it still didn't seem very homely. But still, in front of Tom, Ellie remained chipper, insisting it just needed some new wallpaper and some nice pot plants.

"So it's true, then?" a voice from the doorway asked.

Ellie whipped round. She was decorating the front hallway, had left the front door open as she painted, and there, standing on the welcome mat, was Alec Hardy.

"You really bought this old place?" he asked, stepping inside and glancing around. "It's a wreck!"

Ellie shrugged.

"Yeah, well couldn't afford much better," she responded. "You know how expensive the houses are around here, and me and Joe went halves on the first house."

Alec stood, watching her for a few moments. Ellie couldn't help but note that, back in the good old days, he'd have called her 'Miller' by now. But not anymore. She wasn't Miller anymore. Couldn't be Miller anymore, not after what Joe had done.

"Thought you'd be off, anyway," Ellie continued, turning back to where she was painting the hallway walls a cheery yellow colour. "Thought you were leaving."

"Aye, if I was going back to Scotland," Alec agreed calmly.

At that, Ellie nearly dropped her paint brush.

"Y- You're not?" Ellie asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

Alec shook his head.

"I'm going in for surgery next week," he replied, the very embodiment of calm as he spoke. "Might mean I won't have to step down from the force." He paused, and thought for a few moments. "Then again, might mean they stick me behind a desk."

There was a pause, and Ellie went back to painting.

"Where are the boys?" Alec asked suddenly.

"Tom's gone to the park, and Fred's having a nap upstairs," Ellie responded, not turning around that time.

There was another pause, a longer, more defined one, and finally, Ellie huffed, turning to face Alec again.

"Either pick up a paintbrush or leave," she told him. "Don't just stand there cluttering up the hallway."

Not waiting for a response, Ellie turned around and continued painting. And so, it was with some shock that a few moments later, Ellie noticed another paintbrush joining hers on the wall. She glanced to her left, and there was Alec, still in that blasted black suit and blue tie, painting yellow paint onto her walls. Blinking, Ellie continued to paint.

"You really gonna redecorate all this yourself?" Alec asked after a few moments.

Ellie shrugged.

"Not like I've got anyone to do it for me," Ellie replied. "Tom's already started on painting his own room, and he's agreed to help paint Fred's room if I buy him a new skateboard. Olly said he'd help a bit, and now you're helping with the hallway…"

"Anyone from work?" Alec asked.

Ellie snorted.

"SOCO Brian, but I politely declined his offer," Ellie told Alec. "He offered to paint my bedroom."

Alec rolled his eyes, and continued painting. They were silent, and only their arms holding the paintbrushes moved, up and down, up and down. Every now and then, one of them would bend to dip their paintbrush in the paint again, and then the motion would continue. Up and down, up and down.

"You should really be using paint rollers for this. It's quicker."

"And I suppose you just happen to know everything about redecorating, do you?" Ellie asked Alec, eyebrow arched as she glanced at him.

"Just stating a fact," the DI responded.

They were silent again, their paintbrushes going up and down, up and down.

"So, yellow. Bold choice," Alec told her after a minute or two.

"I like it," Ellie said defensively. "It's cheerful. Brightens the place up."

"You know, Ellie," Alec said quietly, "you can buy as many tins of colourful paint as you can afford, paint your house all colours of the rainbow. But that's not going to brighten up your heart."

"Well, I'll give it a bloody good try," Ellie responded bitterly, before glancing at him. "And when did you get so bloody philosophical?"

Alec shrugged. Ellie sighed, and went back to the painting. The silence was back, but this time it was deafening, Alec's words ringing in her ears. She could redecorate the house as much as she wanted, get rid of any traces of damp, of bubbling wallpaper, cracked plaster, horrid artex ceilings. She could patch the ceiling up, paint the walls, double glaze the windows. But she couldn't redecorate her life so easily. Couldn't redecorate Tom's and Fred's lives so easily. She couldn't patch up the gaping hole in their lives that had once been their father, couldn't paint over the horrible things Joe had done to cover them from view, couldn't cut him out of their lives. Because, no matter where they moved to, what the house looked like, what colour the _bloody walls_ were, it wouldn't be their home. Their home had been taken from them, the night Daniel Latimer's life had been taken from him. It wasn't until Alec pulled the paintbrush from her grasp, sat her down on the stairs, squashed himself beside her and- somewhat awkwardly- patted her on the back, that Ellie realised she was crying.

"Oh god," she muttered, wiping furiously at her damp cheeks. "I must look a right state!"

Alec, quite the gentleman, said nothing. Ellie let out a long breath, staring up at the ceiling, tracing the patterns in the artex with her eyes. And then, she felt Alec's arm around her shoulders. She blinked, and looked over at him.

"Is this ok?" he asked worriedly. "I've not had to comfort any women for quite a while, can't really remember what to do. But this is alright, yeah?"

Ellie nodded.

"Yeah," she responded quietly, offering him a shaky but grateful smile. "Just… Stay for a while?"

Alec shifted a little awkwardly, but then Ellie glanced up at him, and he nodded.

"Look at us," Ellie murmured after a moment or two. "Both thought our families would last forever, and now both running from things."

Alec hummed in agreement, and blinked when Ellie lay her head on his shoulder. And, half an hour later, that was how Tom found them when he returned home.


End file.
